then you can joyfully turn, and if you're a person that likes variety and difference and change, then you can patiently turn to John chapter 4, because we're back there this morning. We've been there for a while. We're back there again, and we're not done. So if you had your hopes up that we were done last week, and you thought, well, maybe this week, just put them on the shelf for a little while. We're not done in John chapter four. John chapter four, we've been looking at the encounter that Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at that well there. And we're moving on from, Christ's conversation with her, and we're going to consider just one point here that Jesus makes as He starts to deal with His disciples as they come back into the scene, if you like. So John chapter 4, And we're going to start the reading in verse 27. It's not real long, but I think it's long enough that I'll ask you to remain seated and just rest your legs, but reverence the Word of the Lord in your heart as we read. John chapter 4, verse 27, and the Bible says, And upon this came His disciples, and marveled that He talked with the woman. Yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her waterpot and went away into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city and came unto Him. In the meanwhile His disciples prayed Him, saying, Master, eat. But He said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, hath any man brought him what to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work. And we'll have a word of prayer this morning. The Lord might have his hand upon us. And while we're praying for us, keep Steve Gilley and your prayers and the church out at Tarum. Steve's out there preaching this morning, so we'll lift them up before the Lord as well, that he might have his hand upon us and upon them. Josh, am I able to ask you to pray, please, bro? And I will be coming to you this morning with the title of an Australian song. We look forward to all those who must have the same. We look forward to that home. We can see you face to face and be with you forevermore. Amen, amen. Alrighty, so this passage of scripture we see Jesus has just had this conversation with a Samaritan woman and she's been convinced. She was not sure who she was talking to to start with, but she has had this encounter with Jesus and she has been convinced, I guess as Paul said it, she was fully persuaded that he was the Christ. And she ran off back to her city, back to the town, and ran through there saying, Come, see a man that told me all that ever I did. She was convinced by Jesus' intimate knowledge of her, and yet still His desire to have her a worshipper of the Father in spirit and in truth, Those things convinced her, and she said, is not this the Christ? Went back into that town and said, I've found the Savior. If we get time in the weeks ahead, we'll have a bit of a look at the rest of the town's reaction and response to her. And we see that they were convinced by her testimony. And that's a powerful thing. There was a great deal of Samaritans that were convinced because she was convinced. You know, if there's one thing that you as a Christian, if there's one tool you have in your arsenal of weapons to be able to preach the gospel, it's what Jesus has done for you. The power of someone's testimony about how the Lord worked in your life or in my life and therefore how He'll use that testimony working in someone else's life. She went in and said, come see a man that told me all that ever I did. Is this not the Christ? And others believed her. Yet there were some, as we would get to it in weeks ahead, that it wasn't until they stopped and had an encounter with Jesus themselves, and heard the teachings of Jesus, and saw who He was, that they saw Jesus, and then they were convinced. All those things being said, we have the disciples. Here's these handful of men that have been traveling with Jesus and he's starting to gather this band of disciples around. It's not the 12 yet, it's not all of them, it's just a few of them. Maybe three, maybe two, it might be four at the most. But here we have Jesus and his disciples come back to him after they'd gone to town. And his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. Here's Jesus, and He turns up at Samaria at the well, and He asks for water, but we know that His request for water was simply an opening to be able to speak to this woman about some more spiritual things. We looked at that a number of weeks ago, about the very deliberate purpose in Jesus' conversation. The disciples come back and their minds are like your mind and my mind, fixed on one thing, it's getting close to lunchtime, and they're like Stixxie, all they can think about is the food, eh Stixx? And they're like, he's got to be hungry. Time to offer him something to eat. And so they get back to Jesus and they say to him, Master, eat. We've got food for you. We've got a meal for you. We found the bakery in town or whatever it was that they got. And they brought it on out and they said, here is some food. And Jesus answered them and said unto them, I have meat to eat that you know not of. You often see this in Jesus working with His disciples. They come to offer Jesus something. And as they come to offer Jesus something, Jesus rebukes them or turns them down and goes, that's not what I'm after. Yeah, that's a humbling thing. You ever gone to the trouble of getting someone a birthday present and you spent time considering and choosing and thinking and you give it to them and they go, oh, thanks. I think. And you're like, I got that one wrong. We have a story in our house, not my house, our family. that still does the rounds ten years later about a particular present that was given and how it stands out that it was not really the desired gift. It's a confronting thing. Here's a small example of what happens to Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane when At Judas' betrayal, the soldiers come to take Christ, and Peter, in all his fleshly gusto and all of his determination to stand for God, draws his sword and cuts off Malchus' ear, and he did something for God. He cut off the ear of God's enemy, and God went and stuck it back on. That kind of hurts, doesn't it? When you think you've done something for God, and God comes along and undoes it on you. You think you've done something great, look at what I just did. And God goes, no, that's not what I want you to do. We're just gonna put that back on and forget that ever happened. That was the wrong thing to do. Here they come, they've just been out getting Jesus food. They get back and Jesus said, I already got food that you don't know of. And they're like, you sent us into town. We were trying to do something for you. And it's not what Jesus wanted. You know where their mind was on? Their mind was fixated on the earthly, on the temporal, on the fleshly meat. Jesus said, I have meat that you know not of. That word meat, it's provision, it's food. It's not meat as in steak, although that's not a bad option. It's meat as in just some tucker, some grub, some sustenance. And Jesus said, I have meat that you know not of. And then he says this, well actually before that, let's go with me to Job. In the book of Job. Chapter 23, Job chapter 23. We'll read verse 1 and then verse 10 through to 12. Then Job answered. It's kind of important when you're reading the book of Job to figure out who's talking. Because as you get through reading the context of the book of Job, you're going to read across some things and you go, the Bible says this. And if I apply it to Job, then this is right, right? But what you're actually reading is a chapter of the Bible where one of Job's friends had something to say and God turns around and says, they were wrong. And so you want to be careful how you apply it, get the context of the scriptures and make sure you get it right. But here's Job and Job is just bearing testimony, answering back. And he says this in verse 10. He, speaking of the Lord, knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as God. My foot hath held his steps. His way have I kept and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips. And Job says this, speaking of God's Word, I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. I have esteemed, I have lifted up, I have counted, I have looked upon His Word. Job is just bearing testimony of where he sees himself before God. And whilst Job was a man that feared God and eschewed evil, and there was none like him, and God said to the devil to consider My servant Job, Yet in the last couple of chapters, we see that Job justified himself before God and God did have some issues with Job. He was a good man, but he wasn't a perfect man. And so we see a great example in Job of what godliness should be. And here he talks about God, that God knows the way that I take. And when he has tried me, It's those storms of life we were singing about. When I've passed through those storms of life, when God has tried me and tested me, I shall come forth as gold. When I've been refined by God, I shall come forth as gold because of God working in my life. My foot hath held His steps. I keep on losing my spot. His way have I kept and not declined. Job said, as far as the steps that God would have me take, my foot has held those steps. I haven't slipped and fallen back. I haven't been like a backsliding heifer that just slides on down the hill. But I've been nimble as a roe, a young deer that can prance across the steepest of hills and hold its footing. And in closing that out, he gives explanation for it. But I've not gone back from the commandments of his lips. And the reason he hadn't gone back from the commandment of his lips, because when Job looked at his necessary meat, that's not donuts, that's not T-bone steak, that's not reef and beef, necessary meats, that's bread and water. That's manna from heaven, that's God just giving you, that's just when he looked at his necessary meats, the things he needed to keep him alive, the needful food. When he looked at his needful food, he esteemed the word of God greater than the very thing that gives him life in his earthly sense. It's kind of the idea of getting up and reading your Bible before you have breakfast. But not in a religious habit, but in a desire that when you get up in the morning, you're longing for the Word of God. You're desiring the Word of God. You're esteeming it highly. More than anything else. That when you wake up in the morning, what you desire and what you want is some time in God's Word. That's where Job was at. He esteemed the Word of God greater than his necessary meats. Jesus said to His disciples, I have meat that you know not of. It's along the lines of Job's mindset. Though he came before Christ on an earthly sense, was a follower of Christ in a spiritual sense, esteeming the spiritual things more important than the earthly things. Though the disciples turned up with donuts and meat pies, or whatever it is they got, Jesus said there's something more important, a greater meat for me, a more necessary provision And it's interesting what he says it is. Luke chapter 22. It's not far back from John chapter 4. Luke chapter 22 and in verse 39 we step right into the very end of Jesus' earthly ministry. Luke chapter 22 verse 39 Speaking of Jesus, He came out and went as He was want to the Mount of Olives. It wasn't a new thing, it was a repetitive thing that Jesus did. The Mount of Olives was His prayer closet. The Mount of Olives was the place that Jesus resorted to to find some time alone with His Heavenly Father. And so, as He was in the habit of doing, as He was want to do, He resorted there to the Mount of Olives and His disciples also followed Him. And when he was at the place, he said to them, pray that you enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone cast and kneeled down and prayed. I reckon with a good arm, you could probably hit the car park at Peet's Park. You could probably launch a rock from here and smash a windscreen over there. You got that in you, Joe? You reckon you could launch? Yeah, have a look out the door there. You could hit a windscreen over there. Yeah, come, he's like, yeah, probably. That blew you to be in trouble. That's about how far Jesus went. He just went away from the disciples a little. And He kneeled down saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me. He said, Father, you're asking something from me and I'm asking you if you're willing Will you remove it from me? This cup that I've got to drink, he's talking about his crucifixion. He's talking about the agony on the cross at Calvary that he's about to face. He's talking about the separation that is going to come between the Father and the Son from the very first time in God's existence. He's going to forsake the Son for you and for me. For your sake, For my sake, He's going to forsake His only begotten Son on the cross of Calvary. Let Him be given over to the crucifixion, to the death of a thief and a criminal. And Jesus in His prayer says, Father, if Thou be willing, take this cup from me. But then He makes this statement. as He closes out His prayer. Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, be done. You know what Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane? He says, There is a will in Me. As God was made flesh and dwelt among us, He took on man's being. And within man is the will of man. And Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane said there is a will in me that needs to be subjected to the will of the Father. And he said, as I'm praying and asking that this cup, if the Lord would be willing to remove this cup from me, this burden, this thing I have to consume, if the Lord would be willing to remove that from me, he said, I want the Father's will done, not my will done. If there's a difference, let it be the Father's will that's fulfilled in my life, not my will. That's Jesus. That's Him who in Him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily. This is Emmanuel, God with us, the everlasting Father, clothed in human flesh. And He said, this flesh, sometimes this flesh don't want what the Father wants. And as He went to prayer, He said, let it be God's will that's done in my life, not My will. Now you take that mindset, understanding that extreme right there at the end of Jesus' ministry in Luke chapter 22 and bring it back to John chapter 4 and as Jesus is talking to His disciples, He said, My meat, My provision, My sustenance, My food, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me. There's two things I want to spend some time looking at, and we'll only get one of them done this morning, and that is the will of God and the work of God. And Jesus, talking to His disciples here, said the will of God is my meat, and the work of God is my meat. The will of God and the work of God is meat that the disciples did not know of. It was provision, it was life to Christ, that the disciples hadn't got their head around. Let me ask you something. Have you got your head around the fact that the will of God is more than your necessary meat? Is the will of God meat that you know of? Is it provision in your life that you are aware of? Is it a mindset that you have embraced? Is it a reality of your existence that the will of God enacted in your life is more important to you than any other food or provision that might be brought along. That's what Jesus is saying here. He's saying to the disciples, I don't want that food you've brought, I have meat that you don't know of and that meat that you don't have your head around is the will of the Father, the will of Him that sent me. Just as in the Garden of Gethsemane, There were things that were Jesus' will. You might say it was Jesus' will to have a glass of water, to just refresh His breath. But it was the Father's will that He have a spiritual conversation with this woman. You know, we're not told it, but I imagine she left her water pot. Now maybe as they're chatting away she's giving Jesus a drink, but I kind of think that she left Him thirsty. He asked for a drink, the Bible never says He got one. She got fixated and focused on the spiritual that Jesus was trying to draw to her attention and he's still sitting there thirsty. Perhaps. Focused more on the spiritual than the physical. You've got to get your head around this idea of your will. Of identifying what a will is. You've all got one. I praise the Lord for having kids in church. And if little kids in church are disturbing you, the front row is empty. Come on up. But you know what you're hearing in the back of church often? You're hearing a little will that's getting bent to mum and dad's will. And that's a noisy process. That takes some work. That takes some obedience to God's Word. That takes a parent going, you know what? It's my will to do something else, but God says to do this. And I'm going to submit my will to the will of God, and as I submit my will to the will of God, I'm going to bring this child's will in accordance to my will. And we're going to church, and we're going to learn to sit quiet, and we're going to learn to be here, and we're going to conform And that conforming, sometimes that's an uncomfortable thing. Sometimes that's a difficult thing. How many wills are there in your life? I'm not talking about Williams. I'm talking about how many wills are at play in your life. What you will do, what God will have you do, what your old man wants, what your old man will do, what the new man in Christ will do. You know, the Bible says there's a few wills at play in our lives. Have a look with me at an example in David. Acts chapter 13. We're going to look first at the will of God. Acts chapter 13. And we're going to try and run quickly through these. Acts chapter 13 verse 22. Acts chapter 13 verse 22. And when He had removed him, He raised up unto them David. I just want you to get your head on David, thinking about David, King David of the Old Testament. When He had removed him, He raised up David, unto them David, to be their king. Talking about the history of Israel and the removing of all kings and the establishing of King David. establishing David to be their king. And this is what it says, "...to whom also he gave testimony and said, I have found David the son of Jesse," catch this, "...a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will." In describing David, the Lord speaks of David saying that he was a man after my own heart in whom will fulfill all my will. And we find that the will of God being fulfilled in somebody's life is very much attached to the heart. It's not just a mind thing. It's not just a decision thing. It's a heart thing. Your will? David's will? Mankind's will? God's will in your life? That's not just about making decisions up here, that's about having your heart where God wants your heart to be. In the book of Acts we see that David was a man after God's own heart and therefore, he was a man after God's own heart and that flowed on too. He was a man after God's own heart and because he was a man after God's own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. The two and two go hand in hand. The fulfillment of the will of God in his life was attached to his heart. Have a look back in the Old Testament. Go to 1 Kings 15. We're just going to look very quickly at this example of David in the Old Testament. 1 Kings 15 verse 5. as we consider the will of God and what the will of God is, and really as we consider that there is the will of God and how to identify the will of God. 1 Kings 15 verse 5, the Bible tells us here, because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from anything that He commanded Him all the days of His life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. There was only one thing where David knew what the will of God was and he said, no, I'm going to turn from God's will and I'm going to have my will fulfilled. And that was in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. The Bible says here that every other sin you might find in David's life didn't come about through deliberate and belligerent disobedience. A choosing his will over God's will. But in the matter of Uriah the Hittite, where he slept with Uriah's wife and then had Uriah killed and just made all that mess. The rest of it, the Bible says he kept God's commandments. He did what God wanted him to do. When it comes to your will, it's much more attached and much more evident in what you do rather than what you intend. Your heart Your heart could perhaps be interpreted or seen or read through your intentions, your desires. But your will, that's much more action based. That's much more result orientated. I mean, if someone makes you mad, and you want to punch him in the nose, but you don't punch him in the nose, then you have enacted some control of your will. And you had a bit of an uncertain moment there, but at the end of the day you didn't punch him. And so what happened? What was your will? Your will was evidently at the end not to punch him. But if old mate walks away with a broken nose, then you can argue back and forth all you want about where your heart was at and how you got caught up in the moment, but at the end of the day, you made a willful decision to punch somebody in the nose. Doesn't matter what was going on in the heart. The Bible says here about King David in verse five of chapter 15, that he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. I well understand that God knows the thoughts and intents of your heart. But when it comes to your will, the thoughts and intents of your heart are only as good as the actions that your will brings into reality in your life. I might desire greatly to have some sort of closeness and relationship and intimacy with somebody or something, I might desire to have a faithful and intimate relationship with my wife where for many years we remain in faithful marriage. But if just once I do as David did, then all of my intentions are out the window because of what? Because of my willful decision. to betray, to forsake. David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord is interested in your actions and your actions really show where your will is. We understand that in an earthly sense. Everyone's probably decided to get more exercise at some stage in their life, right? That's normally something people decide to do at some stage in their life. I need a bit more exercise. But did you have the willpower to put that decision into action? We use that terminology all the time. Your will is tied to your actions. David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. But go with me to 1st Samuel 13, back a few books. 1st Samuel 13. In 1st Samuel chapter 13, verse 22. So it came to pass in the day of battle... What did I do wrong? I checked these verses. Let me find my place, bear with me a second. 1 Samuel 13, oh, verse 14, that's what I did wrong, I read the line below. Wrong verse. 1 Samuel 13, verse 14, but now thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee. Talking about Saul being removed, God said to Saul, you haven't kept what I commanded you so I looked for a man that was after my own heart. Saul didn't keep what God commanded him to keep and so God's solution was to find a man that was after his own heart that would keep. Your will is attached to the two. It's attached to the two things of having your heart bound to God's heart and a determination to bend your will to His will. That's how we enact the will of God in our life, with the two things side by side. Romans chapter 2 tells us that it's by the law of God that we can see God's will. Romans spells that out, that the law of God shows us the will of God. But you know, in Colossians 4, at the close of the book, in verse 12, it says that Epaphras was praying for the church at Colossae, that the will of God would be in their life. Epaphras was praying for them. In chapter 1 it talks about the prayers of Epaphras, and so Paul and those who were with him were praying for Colossae like Epaphras was. That by the mercy of God, the will of God would be found in their life. When it comes to the will of God, you need your heart right, you need your head right in God's Word, and you need the intrusive work of God in your life. It's a threefold thing that you need going on for the will of God to be fulfilled in your life. Your heart and your mind bringing your body into subjection to the active, leading and empowering and mercy of God being imposed in your life. If you don't have those three things, you're not going to fulfill the will of God. You've got to have God empowering you so that in mind, body and spirit you can serve the Lord with your heart, your mind and your soul. That's how the will of God is achieved. But the will of God isn't the only one you've got to battle with. Have a look with me in 2 Timothy chapter 2. In 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 2. Oops, someone pinched it from me. Have a look in verse 24. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 24. The Bible tells us here, The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. If God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, catch this, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. You ain't just got the will of God at work in this world. You got the will of the devil at work in this world. You got the will of the devil walking about seeking whom he may devour, taking captive at his will those who God enables him to, allows him to, gives room for him to. Have you considered the impact of the will of the devil in your life? that when there's a will getting impressed upon you, when there is a will getting imposed upon you, it might be God's will, but that's not the only will that's in action in this world. The Bible says the devil has a will, and it's his will to take captive those at his choosing, those whomsoever he will. It's not an all-encompassing power, but it's a desire he has. You know, in Ephesians chapter 2, if you go there, Ephesians chapter 2, right at the beginning of this chapter, We see the Lord is describing those that are His and He says, "...you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, where in times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." The way that you walked was according to the prince of the power of the air. According not to God's will, according When looking at this scripture, not to my will, not to your will, not to what necessarily was just in us, but according to the prince of the power of the air, the devil's will. This is him who in Isaiah is recorded that he said, I will be like the most high. God had made him to be this and he said, no, I will be something else. I will exalt myself. I will boast myself. I will lift myself up. Here's the devil desiring the active will of the devil. Not just some negative force in the world. Not just some yin and yang. Not just some good and bad that imparts. Not just some storm as opposed to watering rain. but the enacting conscience of a will that desired to be like the Most High, to exalt Himself equal to the throne of God. Just as God has an active will, so does the devil. A will that he enacts and imposes on this world and impacts your life. You see it impact Job's life. You see it impact in the devil's own life. But whilst we're in Ephesians, keep reading. And verse 3 says, Among whom also we all had our conversations in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. See that desires of the flesh? That's the will of the flesh. The Bible says that there's a will of the devil. The Bible says that there's a will of God. And the Bible says there's a will of the flesh. Just your fleshly desires, earthly desires. When Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was there praying, saying, Lord, I have some desire, I have a will that I want to bring it in subjection to your will. Now, my will is to not go through the pain and suffering on the cross. My flesh doesn't like it, but I want to submit my will to your will. He was there at the well in Samaria because he was thirsty and hungry and the disciples had gone off to get food. And as they'd gone off to get food, here he gets in this conversation with this woman and starts talking to her about her spiritual need. And the disciples turned back up with food, and Jesus ain't hungry anymore. He said, I've been focused on the spiritual things. I've been focused on the will of the Father, the will of Him that sent me, and that's been my provision. That's been my meat that you know not of. Your flesh, that's not natural to your flesh. Elsewhere the Bible says that your flesh lusts against your spirit. You have, and the Spirit against the flesh. You have earthly desires, earthly wants. These things that the Bible calls desires of the flesh. Your will. Galatians, when you look at the desires of the flesh, have a look at verse 3. Desires of the flesh and by our nature the children of wrath even as others, but God who is rich in mercy, For His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us, together with Christ, by grace ye are saved. and have raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places, that in ages to come you might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians runs through the saving work of Christ that is imparted there to deal with those earthly desires. But those earthly desires does that work in the children of disobedience, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the desires of the flesh and of the mind. That little list there, that little run through, when you look at what that is, 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 4, gives us a little spelled out list of what our will wants. First Peter chapter 4 verse 1. First Peter chapter 4 verse 1 the Bible says here, For as much as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of your life may suffice to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wines, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries." These few verses here, it runs the phrase together the lust of the flesh that is referred back, and the desires of the flesh, the lusts of men that are contrary to the will of God, the will of the Gentiles that we walked in, the will of just lost man. And it runs through what that will of man is and runs through some examples. of what that will of the Gentiles is. The lasciviousness, the lust, the revelings, the excess of wines, the banqueting. You have a look at Galatians 5 and it's what Galatians 5 calls the works of the flesh. All these things, that's what your will is. That's what my will is. That desire within us, that you don't have to train, you don't have to teach, It's just there. Didn't have to teach me to want these things. Just once I got exposed to them, once I had the knowledge of that evil, I desired it. That's what happened back in the Garden of Eden. We gained the knowledge of good and evil. You got the will of God, You got the will of the devil and you've got the will of man that's alive and active in you. That natural desire that's at work. And Peter gives us the solution. He gives it to us in 1 Peter 4, that you no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. We should live to the will of God, not to the will of the flesh. Verse 6 gives us, For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit. See last week, we looked at the necessity to worship God in spirit and in truth. But if you're going to worship God in spirit, then you're going to have to deal with your flesh. And if you're going to deal with your flesh, then you're going to have to deal with your will. And if you're going to deal with your will, you're going to have to figure out what's God's will, what's the devil's will, and what's your will. And it matters. The Bible tells us that resist the devil and he will flee. The devil comes knocking, he comes up and he offers you something. Resist the devil and he will flee. You stand safe behind your faith in the blood of Christ, the devil will depart from you. But Proverbs 7 talks about a different will. And you see a young man that went by the way of a strange woman's house. And he went past her and she sidled up to him. And let me tell you something. You have some pretty girl or some handsome man come sidling up to you saying the good man is out of the house and my bed is arrayed with perfumes, let us take our fill of love then you don't want to stand in front of her or stand in front of him and go, I'm just going to resist, and they will flee. Because that's not a will of the devil, that's a will of the flesh. And it ain't going nowhere. You better flee that thing yourself. You better put on your running shoes and go, you know what, I'm getting out of this street. I'm going the long way home so I don't have to go past the strange woman's house. I'm going to go outside the city walls and brave the bears and wolves before I expose myself to the weakness of my flesh. And if you get through life going, well there's just the devil and in me I'm pretty good. One of the biggest problems in the world today is this mindset that man is basically good. And so the will of man is basically good. Your will is not basically good, neither is the will of your children basically good. It's just base. It's just low. The will of the devil is wicked, the will of God is righteous, and the will of the flesh is base and selfish desires to satisfy you. Animal-like instincts. And you need to conform that will and go, no, I'm not going to yield to it. I'm going to make sure that my meat is the will of the Father. That's what I'm going to focus on. That's going to be the focus of my every day. That means you get up in the morning and what you're focused on in the morning is God's will in your life, that you have His will. You focus on His word. You focus on His spirit. You focus on who God is. And we are so fleshly minded, so fleshly driven, that we just yield to our will. Our will is the most important thing. Our will is what we look for, what we desire to do. Verse 10 of 1 Peter 4 says this, As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him minister Let him minister as Christ, I keep on losing my, let him minister, oh, where is it? As the ability which God giveth. Why? That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. It's not even about me looking after you and ministering to you the way I want to. I've often said it. There's a sermon I want to preach that God hasn't let me yet. I've got the title for it and that's all I've ever got. God loves you and I love you and that's the way it should be. And God's never given me liberty to just preach that I love you and God loves you, go home and forget about the rest. That's what I want to preach. But God says, no, you've got to tell them. You've got to tell them that their will is contrary to my will. That their flesh lusts against my spirit so that they cannot do the things that they ought. If we desire to be a spiritual church, a spirit-led church, it's not just about coming in here and lifting up our hands and our hearts and telling each other how much we love God and going out there and living according to our will every other day of the week. It means getting up tomorrow morning and saying, Lord, not my will be done today, but thine. And doing it, not just intending, not just being a church full of good intentions, where God knows the thoughts and intentions of our heart. Well, that's one good step, having a heart desirous of God. But if it isn't followed through by our will, being yielded to His and our actions and our doings being pleasing to the Lord. Then it's all just puff and wind. It's clouds without rain. It's promises without follow through. Jesus said, My will is to do the will of Him that sent Me. And right to the end of His ministry, He said, Lord, not My will be done, but Thine. You've got to see the three wills that are in action in your life. And go, that's God's will and that's what I'm going to do. That's the devil's will and I'm resisting the devil and I'm fleeing the flesh and I'm resisting the devil and I'm not having that. And my will? My will is going to be subjected to God's will. The only time I ever get my will is when God says, your will and my will are one and the same. Do you understand that's what Jesus was praying? He said, if thou be willing, then let me have my way. But if you're not willing, then I'll have it your way. Tomorrow morning, your alarm clock goes off. Your alarm clock saying, get out of bed. You're like, I wish I could sleep to my alarm, I'm over 50, I get up before my alarm even thinks about going off. Well, whatever it is where your will, and you need to go, you know what? Lord, I'll have my way, only if it's your way as well. That God's will be done in our life. When the Lord taught his disciples to pray, he said, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. If you want God's will done on earth as it is in heaven, and in heaven God's will is done like that, then have a look where you're standing on. And if you want God's will done on this earth out there, we better make sure that God's will is done in here, on my little patch of dirt, that when God says to Luke, his will is done in my life. that when God says to you, His will is done in your life. To serve the Lord in spirit and in truth, that's not about having your head in the clouds, sitting on some mountaintop, putting your fingers together. That's about letting the spirit of God being the willful force in your life for your every action and your every deed. Let's close with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank You for the gift of Your Word. I thank You, Lord, for giving it to us. I thank You we can open it and find out what Your will is. But, my Lord, I pray that this week, as we consider Your Word, that, Lord, You'd help us identify the will that's at work in our lives. Not just what we want to do, what the will is that we end up doing, but who it comes from. Be it the devil's, be it our will, the will of the flesh, or that it be the will of God. Help us, Lord, to be a people that are yielding ourselves to your will in our lives. We thank you and praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for being here this morning. Thank you for your patience.